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Loading...Why Playing The Climate Blame Game Is “So 2009″
It’s New Year’s Eve, the day before we embark on a fresh new decade of human existence. For those that are passionate about the world of environmental activism and progressive regulation, looking back on 2009 is likely to fill one with mixed emotions.
There were developments in pollution regulation and natural resource conservation that we can all be thankful for, and some, like Copenhagen, that make us shake our head in disbelief.
And now, thanks to a recent report by the Daily Mail, rumors are swirling around that China may have had more to do with the lackluster Copenhagen Accord than was originally suspected.
The Mail on Sunday, a UK publication, tracked the leaked data from the University of East Anglia’s climate change department to a suspect computer which provides internet access to China.
The emails contained language that may have implied that world scientists had been manipulating findings in order to make climate change seem more serious than it really is; however some have said that the emails have been taken out of context.
The controversy surrounding these leaked emails, which came to be known as “Climategate” in the U.S. and “Warmergate” in the UK, disrupted the world’s focus on Copenhagen and has been blamed for the inability of the U.S. to bring it’s own agressive policy to the table at the UN Climate Conference. It has also been said that this recent discovery only solidifies criticisms that, behind closed doors, China was a significant blocking force to any real reform at Copenhagen.
The internet address used to post the messages is linked to several others used by the Chinese- one is a Chinese environmental institute, the Research Institute of Forest Ecology and Environment Protection, based near Beijing.
Several professors from this institute are regulars at climate change conferences where they have shared a platform with the University of East Anglia experts. After our enquiries in Malaysia began, the suspect computer links to China were suddenly cut.
Although those disappointed by the anti-climactic, non-binding agreement that emerged from the Copenhagen Conference can’t help but be scandalized by these speculations, the fact remains that playing the blame game isn’t going to improve the climate crisis, or convince one of the world’s most powerful developing nations to come back to the table in 2010.
Treehugger.com writer Alex Pasternack recently put together a collection of compelling counterarguments on this topic in a piece titled, “Blaming China for Copenhagen Won’t Help the Climate.”
If it [China] did indeed force the final accord in Copenhagen in its favor, that may point to a failure of the international climate treaty-making process. But more importantly, even amidst a possible redrawing of the climate relations map, China’s role at Copenhagen reminds us of the key issue dividing the developing and developed world: while it hurtles towards a clean tech economy, China, like other high-emitting developing nations, is laser-focused on its “right to develop.” And it expects the developed world to do much more to prevent climate change. Rightly so.
When pointing the finger at those who stood in the way of the miraculous solution we were all hoping would come out of Copenhagen, it’s important to realize that the only blame we can rightly place is on ourselves.
Many countries shirked their responsibilities in those negotiations, especially the United States, and this is proof that we have not yet figured out a way to put aside our political differences, come together as a people and demand that changes be made.
With the hope of a New Year streching out before us, let’s resolve to DO SOMETHING about the environmental issues that are facing humanity. Let’s take back the power from politicians too scared to stand up for what they believe in, and corporations that are concerned only with the bottom line.
Let’s realize it is not some of us, but ALL of us that are responsible for this mess, and that only together can we be a part of the solution.
Sign the petition: “U.S. Senate: Time Is Running Out for Climate!“
Read more: china, climate crisis, climate solutions, climategate, copenhagen, global warming
Image Credit: green.in.msn.com
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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Awesome!
Well said, Luvenia!
How ridiculous. Ellis is an ass! . . . and suffering from rejection! I agree with those that say…
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46 comments
+ add your ownThe new decade starts with 2011, not 2010. Counting does not start with 0.
There's plenty to do. Cub Scouts and Brownies can help recycle aluminum (saves energy in huge amounts), older children can walk or bike to activities, even high schoolers could avoid driving a couple of days a week. Adults need to invest in energy conservation and push officials at all levels to do more.
Michael S.
Are you really going to wait for someone else to make a move before you concern yourself? Is Al Gore the reason for you to do or not do? So, what's your part in all this?
Thanks for the info.
Why not start with the GOD of GREEN, Al Gore and ask him to stop flying around the world in his private jet, stop heating his swimming pool, move out of his heat guzzling mansion, and it goes on.
Once hypocrisy is remove then more people will be willing to listen and to hopefully do.
7000 feet...brrrrr I would be half way up Mt Hood here. There was still a snow bridge across the road at 5000 ft last year in June.
I do what I can but I am not giving up heat in the Wyo winter. I do grow some food but at 7000 feet it is a losing battle.I recycle, compost, keep my home cool enough that I need blankets in the living room to watch tv and am vegetarian. I do what i can and wish others would make some effort. We all need to just do something.
Marco what I am doing is....I have solar and wind that provide about 50% of my electrical needs. I grow all of my vegetable needs, organically, I have 10 chickens, (that would be free range except for the natural predators in my neck of the woods) I am 53 yrs old, and I own only 3 pieces of furniture that I have bought new. (oh and a set of dishes and glasses), We have made three things from new materials, 2 sets of shelves for our ham radios, rebuilt units, and the battery box for our solar system. Even our chicken coop was made from recovered lumber. I have to admit the fence posts around the garden are new lumber. The fencing was reused. Even the majority of our clothing is second hand. Some but not all of our shoes are new. I am picky where I get used shoes, family only. Never owned a dishwasher or a new car. I have an apartment sized energy star refrigerator I bought new. I can my own vegetables and meat. (No freezer in the refrig).I use heritage seed. I buy bulk and recycle coffee cans and creamer jars to store the excess.I use recycled milk jugs to take filtered water to my daughter. (We have a glacier fed reservoir the feeds our community of 100, but I still filter it for her.)
I am a homesteader..It is a lifestyle. A good one. One I wish state legislators would encourage instead of discourage with over regulation, zoning laws, and use permits.
It is not hard to understand Chinas' hesitation. We are 800 billion dollars in debt to them. When Hillary said we would pledge another 100 billion they had to be looking at it like and where do you suppose you are going to get that 100 billion? The Fed going to print it, further weakening the dollar that we are holding so much of?
The cap and trade bill....mandating that everyone will bring there homes to CA 2009 energy code standard by 2017. Do you really think that is for the environment or a way to guarantee China that we will continue to consume more products that are manufactured in China? In the meantime our landfills fill up with cheap garbage.
We have become a disposable society. A society of instant gratification. We do not save and buy a quality product. We buy something cheap that we fill our landfills with it when it no longer suits our mood. Cap and trade is just an excuse to continue to consume and make us feel better about it.
The real solution will be when we figure out it is not a trade deficit that is more important than changing our consumption habits. You can bet if that happens in mass. These doo dah politicians are not going to be happy, China is not going to be happy, Wall Street is not going to be happy, and the World Bank and the IMF will not be happy. They will not have the billions it will take to control all of the manufacturing, imports and exports and agriculture of small nations.
What are you doing to stave off the inevitable inconveniences of global warming, generated by humans or not?
Asleep behind the wheel means its just a matter of time before you wreck. If you survive, what will you be thinking about how it could have been avoided?
Hindsight is always 20/20. What and how much are you willing to give up for a little foresight?
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